Short Summary

Hundreds of demonstrators marched through the streets of Saigon on Friday to protest against the 'unfriendly attitude of France' towards South Vietnam.

Description

Hundreds of demonstrators marched through the streets of Saigon on Friday to protest against the 'unfriendly attitude of France' towards South Vietnam. They uses taxis and pedicabs plastered with slogans to form a procession through the city.

The demonstrators marched to the French Consulate in the city and paraded past the building. There was, however, no repeat of previous violence at the consulate. This was the third demonstration in five days, but it passed off peacefully.

The taxis and pedicabs caused traffic jams in the city centre. Some of the placards on the vehicles denounced the French government and President de Gaulle, following rumours in the city that the French government had allowed the setting up of a shadow South Vietnamese government in Paris.

At the French consulate, demonstrators plastered the railings with more posters, while consulate officials watched from inside the building.

Relations between South Vietnam and France have been at a low ebb since June, 1965, when the Saigon government reduced its official relations with France to consular level because of France's lack of support for South Vietnam and the United States.